Chapter 10: Unreasonable insanity.

  The mission was a success. While heading north to the town the victims were from, Cam and Penelope ran into her group. They had taken out the rest of the Rock trolls that chased them off. They used the standard kiting technique to separate the lot and pick them off one at a time. Cam shared the quest with the rest of the group. The tally went up by the number of trolls they killed when he did. After seeing the uninfected home safe, the tally finished. Cam thought it was ironic when he personally slammed the door on the cell he once slept in. One alchemist for another. Thankfully the officers on duty were different from the ones he robbed before.

  The mayor promised to forward a reward after a proper investigation was done, in the mean time they were free to head back home and report the days events to the adventures guild. Not wanting to waist anymore time Cam and the other adventurers headed for home. The first long stretch was quiet. Cam couldn’t blame the guys. They didn’t see what Cam and Penelope saw, but they heard the stories from the ones they saved. They were all still in shock by the whole thing. They came to a stop when they could see the cave off to the side of the road.

  “The Mayor asked us to leave it alone, he doesn’t want us to contaminate the scene anymore than we have. So lets keep going.” Penelope barked. The others fell in line and they all picked up their pace.

  “So, Cam, are you staying at the guild dorms?” Key asked. Cam never got a good look at his face. Key was in full medium armor, complete with a full helmet. The armor all matched, it was a navy blue with a gleam of dark metal all about; even his shield matched. Key stood out in front of the formation, he kept the pace. Penelope stood back and to his right, Cam was back and to his left. The healer was behind them and the two mages behind him. They always stayed in formation, Cam thought it was kind of strange, but he kept his eye on his mini map.

  “Yeah, I have been there for a few days now. It’s been nice so far.”

  “So what room did they give you, was it old Burk’s room.? We haven’t seen him in a while.”

  “Where would that be at?”

  “It’s up on the third floor, one of the corner units. Right next to Augusta’s room.”

  “Nah, I am an Alchemist. I took the basement.”

  “You hear that guys? We have an alchemist. That’s awesome. What kind of potions do you make?”

  From the back of the formation Cam could hear, “You make any mana potions? I am always in need.”

  “I do make mana potions, in fact, I came out here today to pick up quite a few ingredients to keep myself busy for the next couple of days. Who knows, maybe I’ll have a decent supply before you guys head out for your next mission.”

  “I knew I liked you.” Cam heard from the back.

  When they got back to the gate Cam received a nod from the guards before separating from the group. He needed a shower, and a nap before he got back to making potions. Penelope would take care of the paperwork. Cam didn’t realized he was so out of shape until trying to keep up on a march with real adventurers. ‘Their stamina must be high.’

  After a shower and a nap Cam got to work. His lab was fully stocked and he was ready. He started with mana potions, then he cleaned up and started a batch of stamina potions, he made extra of these. Even now his lungs hurt a little, and his legs felt heavy. He stopped for a quick meal and a cup of coffee at morning brew before continuing. Finally he got around to making health potions, he had plenty of ingredients for these, so he made enough to stock and to fill quest orders from the guild. Cam sat at the end of his lab table on a stool spacing out for the first time that day. He found it comforting, to just, be. No thoughts or ideas floating around in his busy head. Just to be a sponge absorbing the environment he found himself in. He looked at all of the shelves he cleaned the day before and the poster of measurement sizes the previous alchemist had up. He let his notifications roll up.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Ba-da: You have ranked up. Please head to the adventures guild to update your status.

  Ba-da: Essence of fire has reached level 3, new skill unlocked lesser fire control.

  Lesser fire control: can level with continued use of fire magic, maintaining spells builds focus and overall control.

  Ba-da: Lesser fire control has reached level 6. Cost of fire magic is reduced. The flexibility of your spells will be amplified accordingly.

  ‘Lesser fire control ah? That tracks.’ Cam couldn’t explain it at the time but using his flames to light the cave gave him the sense that he was using something he wasn’t aware of. The feeling came back while using all of the burners in his lab. He was using them all at the same time, yet his mana levels didn’t feel like they were falling too low. ‘dividing your magic and your time’ really was a good investment. Cam would have to thank Trevor… eventually for the suggestion. Listening to Trevor talk was draining on the soul.

  One of the many things Trevor was saying started to make sense. He said, “titles and skills can already exist in a lower form than the system recognizes. Only when it gets close to ranking up does it become tangible.” So real you can taste it. In a way, you are manifesting yourself one skill at a time. Taking what is dormant and causing... an awakening.” Cam sighed thinking about Trevor’s need for dramatic pauses.

  Cam stood up thinking about Argus, “Could an alchemist get so involved in the theory of research and study that a mad scientist title unlocks?”

  “You thinking about Argus?” Cam heard from the door. He looked up and saw Sam standing there. He had himself together, not like the other night. Sam was under the effects of a fear imp the first time they had met. It looked like the effects had finally wore off. Cam made a mental note to ignore their first introduction and to base his idea of this man off of what he sees going forward. Sam stepped into the lab and quietly shut the door behind him. There was something in the way he walked, his steps were with purpose, and he held Cams gaze with a simple shrug. “Sorry about intruding. I wanted to come by and thank you a few times, actually. Once fore saving my Penelope, and the other for saving me from my own dread. Fear imps are no small feat for your first day in town.” Sam put his hand out and Cam took it.

  “I was just lucky on both accounts. I am just glad I could help.”

  “Nonsense. Do you know why it is so hard to find a fear imp? It is because it hides in your fears. You have no way of seeing one at the best of times, but it gets even worse if you have something you are worried about. How did you see it?”

  “I had just got a title, welcome to the dreamscape. It gave me the ability to see them.”

  “So, you are an outworlder, a traveler? You come from a planet that doesn’t have a god of dreams. That makes so much sense now that I think about it.”

  “Do you get travelers often?”

  “No, not really. But when we do, they all get that skill for sharing a memory in a dream. Think of it as a passive boon. It doesn’t require an act of worship, only an exchange of ideas, so to speak. You may find passive boons are more versatile than active ones as you progress… So, Argus.”

  “Yeah…”

  “To be honest, Argus had a screw loose as long as I have known him. He was obsessive over the little things a normal person would shrug at. He would forget to do common things like bathing because he was too busy rereading a book. A book he wrote. He would read it like he was doing it for the first time every time. That sort of behavior isn’t normal. It became reflective in his work. He couldn’t just make a potion. To be honest, he was more researcher than alchemist, but he was the best we had at the time. You on the other hand. I have been watching you for some time. You are solely focused on the task at hand. Making the potions, putting in the work. The only time you actually stopped was when you were done. That’s impressive. Your mind isn’t scattered, you hit each transition with precision, you are a proper alchemist. With focus comes greatness, I am sure you have heard Trevor state that, like it was law. Your skills evolve based off of your actions, you will never turn into Argus, if that’s what you are worried about.”

  “It seems there is the potential for extremes in every field then. If any one person can obsess so much that they are consumed, it would happen across the board, no?”

  “That’s true. That falls under the domain of the god of madness, but the idea is simple. What you feed grows.”

  “My uncle used to say that a lot.”

  “He seems like a wise man.”

  “Not really, but he was a farmer, so that still tracks.”

  “Hmm.”

  “What?”

  “So, your uncle was a farmer in another world and your first affinity you unlock is an alchemist. Perhaps that is not a coincidence. Your innate skills to find plant life could be related.”

  Cam, for a moment, had a flash of his time on the moon of that unknown planet and shook his head. “That is an interesting theory, but I doubt it. I have been to a few worlds, I can’t say my time there was nice. But I get the feeling that has more of an influence than I would like to admit. Can I ask you an honest question?”

  “Sure.”

  “How do the other travelers get here?”

  “Every story I have heard is different. Some travel by way of a special dungeon, others by a rift. I remember hearing of one, when I was young, of a girl that fell from the sky. I can’t say for sure if that one was real or not, but it got a lot of us talking.”

  “Do they ever leave.”

  “Well, some do. Some choose to stay. They all get the sense for some greater calling as they travel. That seems to pull them in one direction or the other. Do you plan on leaving soon?”

  “Not if I can help it. The rules of this world are all new to me. It would be hard to pull me away from all of this.”

  “I take it your world didn’t have magic?”

  “Or gods, well, not real ones anyway.”

  “From your parchment of script I could see an interesting title, ‘the eye of three?’ Do you know which gods have an eye on you?”

  “Well, there is Viral, that’s for sure… I guess that dreamscape god, I don’t know who that is yet. And…” Cam could see into the eyes of the goddess, he could smell her standing so close to him that it was intoxicating. The innocent look in her eyes that seemed to gleam with excitement. “There was one, I didn’t get her name, but she was green and wore vines as clothes, does that sound familiar?”